Aldea, Input Media team for World Cup

Sports production specialist Input Media and transmission services provider Aldea Solutions are partnering to offer studio facilities and stand-up links from Cape Town for broadcasters covering the 2010 World Cup.

Both companies are offering services that include playout, fixed stand-ups from a rooftop, three-camera studio with live backdrop and wireless stand-ups located at anywhere within the compound of the V&A Waterfront Waterfront’s World Media and Legacy Center in Cape Town, to which they have exclusive access. Content will be fed into a temporary master control room and played out via Aldea.

David Wood, managing director of Input Media, was program director for ITV during the 2002 World Cup and worked as multifeed producer for HBS at two venues in 2006. “Cape Town doesn’t have the broadcasting capacity of Johannesburg, so there is an opportunity to fill the gap and facilitate live stand-ups from the city’s main tourist area. In our search for ‘weather-proof’ optical-fiber distribution, Aldea have energetically worked to deliver the ideal solution for us,” he said.

Aldea’s video network covers 17 cities and 10 countries across North and South America. This is Input Media’s first foray into contributions for a World Cup, and it has invested £1 million ($1.4 million USD) into the facility, including sending 15 management and engineering staff plus local recruitment. Input Media’s ongoing contracts include those with UEFA, the Football Association and FA Premier League football clubs including Chelsea FC, Arsenal FC, Tottenham Hotspur and Everton.